This May is Mental Health Awareness month and today I speak with Kathy Flaherty (@ConnConnection) about mental health advocacy. Kathy is the Executive Director of Connecticut Legal Rights Project (@CTLegalRights) a statewide non-profit agency that provides legal services to low income individuals with mental health conditions, who reside in hospitals or the community, on matters related to their treatment, recovery, and civil rights. Kathy combines her personal experience as a recipient of mental health services and her legal background to speak to issues affecting those living with mental health conditions. As a content warning this interview will discuss the following topics that may be traumatic and triggering: gun violence, hospitalization, psychiatric institutions, forced medication, suicide, and suicidal ideation.